Gaara of the Desert
by sansajonquil
Summary: Gaara's personal journey to self-acceptance/self-confidence. Re-posting my story from years ago, because of nostalgia of it being my first ever fanfiction story.
1. Chapter 1

_**Gaara of the Desert**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Gaara's personal journey to self-acceptance/confidence. Re-posting my story from years ago (my username used to be dark-byakugan24), for purely nostalgic purposes, not particularly because I like it; frankly, I think it's terrible, but it was my first ever story.

* * *

Gaara walked through the Sand Village with his siblings Temari and Kankuro. They were his only friends. He saw a group of three children that looked about his age and a jounin throwing a ball to each other close by. A spiky blond haired boy threw the ball to a pink haired girl.

She made to catch the ball but it flew over her head.

Naruto threw the ball too high and it went right over Sakura's head, just missing it by a few inches.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, scratching his head embarrassedly.

"Baka!" she said. "That almost hit my head!"

"Sorry, "said Naruto.

She sighed, "I guess it's alright."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said cheerfully. He turned to Kakashi- sensei, who was reading Icha Icha Paradise. "Kakashi, shouldn't we be training now? I am going to become stronger and be Hokage one day!"

"Baka," Sasuke said, leaning casually against the wall. "We just finished training, and someone as weak as you is never going to become Hokage."

"What did you say, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow. "I said you are too weak to ever become Hokage."

Naruto and Sasuke kept bickering.

Sakura sighed. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll get the ball."

"Okay," Kakashi said not looking up from his book.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Gaara of the Desert**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's note: Shukaku can awaken if he can smell blood or is near blood. Shukaku relishes in the opportunity to kill anyone in sight. So he always wants Gaara to kill.

* * *

Kankuro blinked, as a ball rolled towards Gaara.

Gaara bent down and slowly picked it up.

A pink haired girl suddenly ran towards Gaara. "S-sorry," she said, sounding exhausted.

"Are you from this village?" Gaara asked.

The girl looked surprised for a moment, then said, "Oh, no, I'm from Konoha Village."

She waved her hands to a jounin, a spiky haired boy, and a boy leaning against a wall nearby. "They are also from Konoha Village."

"They are also from Konoha Village," she said once again. She was a bit puzzled at this strange boy. "Can I please have my ball back?"

The girl frowned. Then she asked, "Can I please have my ball back?"

"Uh…sure," Gaara said.

Suddenly a kid ran past him. He looked around and saw the kid running away from two other kids. They were obviously playing tag.

Then the kid fell over the grey cold concrete. He scraped his knee and elbows. The kids ran to their friend. He stood up on wobbly legs and examined his elbow. A trickle of blood ran across his elbow.

The blood dripped to the ground.

Oh no, Temari thought.

"Um..." she said.

She quickly grabbed the ball from Gaara and tossed it to the girl. "Gaara, let's go."

But it was too late. Gaara already had a glazed look over his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Gaara of the Desert**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke finished their ten minute argument.

Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, where did Sakura go? We were going to a C mission!"

Kakashi raised his eyes from Icha Icha Paradise. "She went to get the ball. Although," he frowned slightly. "She is taking long."

Naruto looked around the vast area to find Sakura. Then suddenly he saw her. "Sakura-channn!" he yelled happily, running towards her. Then he saw a horrified look on her face, looking over her shoulder at something.

Gaara felt the Shukaku, the monster inside him awaken. Shukaku said, Hurry! Kill him before he gets away! Gaara felt this was the reason to prove his existence. To kill.

As the boy stood up on wobbly legs and walked away with his friends, he made a trickle of sand go towards the boy. Sand wrapped itself around his leg, and he fell once more on the concrete. He waved his hand, and sand covered the boy. "Desert Coffin!" he hissed.

Naruto turned around to see what Sakura was looking at. He was shocked to see sand covering a kid, with a boy with dark circles under his eyes presiding over this situation and saying, "Desert Coffin!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Gaara of the Desert**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

"Gaara, stop it!" a girl with pigtails and holding a fan said.

The boy called Gaara hesitated.

The kid's friends looked terrified.

Then his eyes suddenly flashed. He tightened his fist. "Desert Fun..."

Naruto ran towards Gaara.

"Rasengan!" he screamed, the ball of chakra swirling in his hand, and ready to thrust into Gaara.

Suddenly, a wall of sand shot up to protect Gaara.

The chakra stopped swirling in Naruto's hand. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

Sasuke wondered what the yelling was all about, and why Naruto hadn't come back with Sakura yet.

He glanced over at Kakashi. He was busy reading his book.

Then he saw Sakura and Naruto. He also saw a red-haired kid. "Umm… Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked up. "Sasuke, let's go!"

He snapped his book shut, and performed a jutsu that Sasuke recognized; it was one that Kakashi used to appear in front of them at the starting of missions. Kakashi made a hand seal and said "Koriedyou No jutsu!"

In a flash, they were standing where Naruto and Sakura were.

"You wouldn't understand," Gaara said. _No-one would understand how I feel, _he thought.

"Try me," the blond haired boy said. "Okay. I have a monster inside me," he said. The boy's eyes widened a little. "No-one loves me. I am always alone. "


	5. Chapter 5

**_Gaara of the Desert_**

* * *

Then Gaara said, "To the village, I am just a relic of the past they want to forget. So I thought, why live when there's nothing to live for?"

"I decided that as long there were people to kill, my existence would be determined. I decided that I will fight for and love only myself," he continued in an emotionless voice.

Sakura was shocked. He's just like Naruto, she thought.

Gaara finished speaking. He looked at the blond boy, and was surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Gaara of the Desert**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Tears welled in Naruto's eyes._ He was just like me when I felt the pain of being abandoned._

"I once felt the same way. I have a monster inside me too. But I learned to gain trust and believed in people who weren't scared of me," he said.

The boy called Gaara looked surprised and stunned.

Then he closed his eyes and released the boy.

"Seito!" His friends caught him before he fell.

The boy called Seito looked up at Gaara.

Gaara choked back his tears and stuttered, "Gomen nasai."

Emotions flooded inside Gaara. It felt painful, so he closed his eyes and released the boy.

"Gomen nasai," he said, forcing back his tears.

Sakura's heart softened.

Suddenly, there was a _poof. _Kakashi and Sasuke appeared right next to her.

Kakashi put up his hand in a wave. "Yo. Did anything happen?"

Seito and his friends smiled and walked away.

Gaara bowed and said, "Gomen nasai. Arigato."

Then he started to walk away. His siblings followed.

Sakura's heart stopped."Wait!" she called.

Gaara turned around.

Sakura said, "Do you want to play with us?"

Gaara's eyes widened. He was for a loss of words. "A-arigato," he stammered.

The girl with pigtails, and the boy with purple face paint smiled.

"My name is Gaara, and my siblings are Temari and Kankuro," he introduced.

Naruto grinned cheekily. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I will become Hokage one day. Dattebayo!"

The dark haired boy said, "Never in a million years."

Naruto's eyes glowed red. "What did you say?!"

The pink haired girl giggled. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and this is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yo. I am Hatake Kakashi," said the Jounin.

"Nice to meet you all," Gaara said.

Gaara saw that Sasuke had made a clever remark. Naruto tried to think of a witty comeback.

But then Kakashi said, "Break it up."

Naruto pouted, but finally stopped the argument.

Then his eyes brightened. "Let's go to my favourite place!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, then agreed.

"Sure," Gaara said.

Kankuro and Temari said the same thing.

"Alright!" said Naruto, pumping his fist into the air. "First stop, Ichiraku Ramen!"

Everyone cheered.

They all started to walk towards the ramen shop.

Gaara closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air. It was wonderful to have friends.


End file.
